Methods Core - Abstract The CHESC Methods Core will support the junior investigator projects with two main functions: 1) laboratory support and specialized training for biological assays, and 2) statistics, study design and training in complex data analysis. Kent Teague, PhD will serve as the PI and overall Director of the Methods Core. He is an experienced immunologist who directs the OU Integrative Immunology Center (IIC). This well established center will provide the central laboratories dedicated to fulfilling the first function. The Deputy Director of the Methods Core will be Dr. Isaac J. Washburn who will support the junior investigators in study design, grant writing, and statistical analyses and thus fulfill the second function. Figure 1 illustrates the general structure and functions of the Methods Core. As indicated in the letter of support from the President of OU-Tulsa, Dr. Gerry Clancy, the University of Oklahoma is committed to the success of the CHESC and the IIC. The mission of the CHESC is perfectly aligned with the goals of the IIC and the OU School of Community Medicine where the IIC is housed and supported [1]. The IIC is dedicated to the support of translational community medicine research. (http://www.ou.edu/tulsa/centers_and_institut es/integrative-immunology-center.html). Additionally, Dr. Teague serves OU as the Director of Research Laboratories for the Tulsa campus and has secured institutional hard funds for the IIC in order to ensure long- term sustainability. The center currently supports 25 Tulsa investigators researching stress, inflammation, depression and mild brain trauma (see Table 1 for current collaborators and Table 2 for NIH-funded projects). The IIC laboratories under the direction of Dr. Teague in conjunction with the statistics and study design support of Dr. Washburn should be ideally suited to support the research objectives of the individual projects and to provide a rich training environment for the CHESC investigators. The infrastructure that will be expanded with CoBRE funding should position the IIC to be a robust partner for any Tulsa investigators researching the biological impact of health disparities or use of biological measures to aid in assessing health outcomes of social interventions.